Heroes United
by turbomagnus
Summary: The greatest heroes and detectives of the 'pulp'-era - The Shadow, The Phantom, Dick Tracy and more - come together, uniting each of their individual talents and abilities into one force against evil.
1. Shadows In The City

Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. Whether or not that goal can be reached, we'll see... This is The 365 Project, 23 February.

I like old 'pulp'-era heroes (or even those simply styled as though from that era), costumed heroes like The Shadow and The Phantom, classic detectives like Dick Tracy and Nero Wolfe, I gladly admit it. So it is without hesitation that I started wondering what would happen if - since they're all in a roughly 1930's era timeframe, what would happen if their paths began to cross...

Disclaimer: "The Shadow" belongs to Street and Smith Publications and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.

-o0O0o-

"Heroes United"

'Shadows in The City'

By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

The iris of the one-way 'picture by radio' reciever opened and the man sitting in front of it spoke in a low, gravelly voice.

"Report."

Burbank's image looked at The Shadow from the transmitting end of the connection, "Agent in Midtown Precinct reports incident at Museum of Natural History. Possible theft and kidnapping. Agent suggests inquiry and advises caution; Police Commissioner appears involved."

The Shadow frowned even though Burbank couldn't see it; Wainwright Barth's replacement as Police Commissioner had been detrimental to The Shadow's operations, not just by losing the line of information that came from Barth being the uncle of Lamont Cranston, but by virtue of the fact that his replacement - a man named Jack Farley - was deep in the pockets of some of New York's less respectable citizens.

"Understood. Have agents find out what and whom was taken, report back as soon as possible," The Shadow answered before abruptly ending the connection and leaning back in his chair.

'This is troubling,' he thought to himself, 'Whoever is behind this acted in broad daylight, obviously thinking they had the power - money or connections - to escape justice for their actions... I intend to prove them wrong, remind them that the weed of crime bares bitter fruit.

-o0o-

It was later that day and The Shadow was again in his Sanctum in communication with Burbank, "Report."

"Agent in Metropolitan Library reports additional information on disappearance of Dr. Fleming, head of the Metropolitan Library. Dr. Fleming last known to be meeting with Xander Drax," Burbank informed his superior.

"Xander Drax," The Shadow thought for a moment, "Owner of Drax Industries, connections with Zaphro crime family."

"Yes," Burbank answered simply.

"Interesting."

"Additional on incident at Museum of Natural History; possible connection with disappearance of Dr. Fleming, Drax involved in theft of jade skull from Crusades exhibit, seen leaving Museum with Charlie Zaphro and associates. Also present were Diana Palmer, niece of _Tribune_ editor David Palmer, and unknown male. Agent in area at time reports Palmer and unknown male taken from Museum at gunpoint."

"Taken where?" The Shadow demanded.

"Drax Industries building, downtown Manhattan," Burbank answered, "Further information unavailable, no agents currently in Drax organisation."

"What about the Zaphros?"

"Agents in Zaphro crime family report death of Raymond Zaphro, Charlie Zaphro now in control of family, working with Drax. Agents report additional Drax/Zaphro connection with organization known as 'Sengh Brotherhood'. Exact nature of association unknown, Agents attempting to learn."

The Shadow glowered, having heard of the Sengh Brotherhood; a four-hundred year old collection of cutthroats, thieves, murders and pirates that survived by the simple fact of their open recruitment policies for lay members who might one day earn the spiderweb tattoo that marked them as full 'brothers' and the fact that despite the loss of numerous operations at the hands of the Bengalla Jungle Patrol, The Shadow's own network of agents and other forces of order over the years, the Brotherhood's primary headquarters had somehow managed to remain hidden for the entirety of it's four-hundred year existance.

"No," The Shadow commanded, "Have the agents continue survelliance of Drax, Zaphro and Commissioner Farley, but order them to keep away from the Sengh Brotherhood. Until we know why Drax is interested in the Brotherhood, there's too great a risk to the agents. Especially with the current police situation."

-o0o-

That night, the 'current police situation' reared its head in a most unwelcome manner, leading The Shadow back to The Sanctum once more.

"Report," if the tone of The Shadow's voice was extra harsh, Burbank didn't notice or said nothing.

"Agent in Midtown Precinct reports police on look-out for madman, armed and extremely dangerous. Police have been ordered to shoot on sight. Agent recommends exercising caution in any activites tonight," Burbank said in as dry a tone as though he were reading the day's weather report from the _Classic_ or _Tribune_.

"Description?"

"Police alert states possible costume, skin-tight purple, with cowl and mask," Burbank answered.

"Keep me informed," The Shadow instructed before turning off the reciever and watching as the iris closed.

-o0O0o-

Author's Note: I'm actually looking for two more characters that could have been active in the 1930's, to be honest. I've got The Shadow, The Phantom, Dick Tracy, Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, and possibly a successor to Zorro, but that still leaves me two short of the seven I want to have. Anyone have any suggestions?


	2. Phantoms In The Jungle

Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. Whether or not that goal can be reached, we'll see... This is The 365 Project, 24 February.

I like old 'pulp'-era heroes (or even those simply styled as though from that era), costumed heroes like The Shadow and The Phantom, classic detectives like Dick Tracy and Nero Wolfe, I gladly admit it. So it is without hesitation that I started wondering what would happen if - since they're all in a roughly 1930's era timeframe, what would happen if their paths began to cross...

Disclaimer(s):  
"The Shadow" belongs to Street and Smith Publications and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.  
"The Phantom" was created by Lee Falk and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit, I believe current ownership rights rest with King Features Syndicate, but I'm not sure.

* * *

-o0O0o-

"Heroes United"  
'Phantoms in the Jungle'  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

* * *

"I will devote my life to the destruction of piracy, greed, cruelty, and injustice, and my sons and their sons shall follow me." - The Phantom.

-o0o-

* * *

"Long day?"

Captain Phillip Horton, public commander of the Bangallan Jungle Patrol turned around and narrowed his eyes at the man who had just entered his office-slash-quarters in the Jungle Patrol's headquarters - his factual superior and the actual commander of the Jungle Patrol, "Can't you ever use the door?"

"I like the window better," The Phantom answered, playing his part in the old exchange between the two men.

Horton shook his head, "Yes, it's been a blasted long day - word's gotten out among the _bonos_ about your little escapade in the Devil's Triangle and right now Zavia isn't the better for it. Other types are trying to take control of the town and the Sengh Brotherhood there are trying equally hard to keep their power and control, I've had to pull all Patrols back away from the jungle around the town for their own safety."

"That's strange," The Phantom frowned.

"Blasted nuisance is what it is," Horton corrected, "If the other criminal types win this little struggle, we'll have to send the Patrol in to clean things up and adjust patrol routes to include Zavia; the Brotherhood wins, on the other hand, they'll probably try using the town to rebuild their numbers, regroup and reorganise, maybe even use it as their new headquarters if they think they can get away with it."

"No, I know about the trouble in Zavia and the possible outcomes, I'm keeping an eye on it," The Phantom answered, "I mean its strange that you said there should be no members of the Jungle Patrol anywhere near Zavia. Only tonight I saw one of the Jungle Patrol's men on the outskirts of Zavia meeting with someone. I thought it might be an informer for you, but if you've said no one's to go near Zavia for the time being, that means it can't be."

Horton growled softly at the thought that one of his men might be a traitor - though he knew that seven generations ago, The Phantom's place as commander of the Jungle Patrol had become a secret because of a traitor who caused the death of the Fourteenth Phantom, "Do you have any idea who it was?"

"The Patrolman was one of the new recruits - I think his name was Baker," The Phantom replied, "I can give you a description of the _bono._"

Horton crossed the room and opened a filing cabinet behind his desk, "Go on."

"Medium-height and build, European-descent, dark hair, patch over his left eye, full beard," The Phantom listed off as Horton began flipping through the files the Jungle Patrol had on _bonos_ in Zavia, a set of extremely incomplete files, unfortunately, "The most interesting thing was that he carried a sword, even in this day and age; rapier, I think."

"I recognise the description, especially that sword; that's one Malcom Arne," Horton nodded, pulling out a file and closing the cabinet before tossing it onto his desk, "He's a known lay member of the Brotherhood, appearantly likes to play up the old 'pirate' image."

"He's also a member of something else, I think," The Phantom brought up, causing Horton to look at him and frown.

"Why do you think that?"

"They both wore the same kind of ring; silver with a _girasol_," The Phantom explained, "And the way they greeted each other..."

"Fire opal," Horton nodded, "What kind of greeting?"

"They talked about the weather."

Rolling his eyes, Horton retorted, "Lots of people talk about the weather, Phantom."

"Baker said 'but the ice is slippery'," The Phantom countered, "How often do you see ice in the jungles of Bangalla, Captain?"

"In this heat?" Horton scoffed, "The only ice I've ever seen is what comes in by ships for freezers. I'll have someone bring me Baker for some answers as soon as you leave."

"No," The Phantom countermanded, "No, don't do that. Watch him, it would help if we know if there's any other members of this fire opal group in Bangalla before we do anything. It wouldn't help if Baker's a traitor and we expose him only for others to escape because of it."

"If you say so, Phantom," Horton shook his head, "I can't say I agree, but you are the one in charge."

Footsteps on the porch drew both men's attention and caused them to move in seperate directions - The Phantom towards the window he had entered by and Horton towards the door. Before Horton could reach it, the door began to open.

"Captain Horton, sir," the person on the other side started only for Horton to interrupt.

"Blast it all, Weeks, haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Horton chastised Weeks, newly promoted to Sergeant to replace former-Sergeant Cummings who had found himself demoted to Corporal for his part in the incident with the grave robbers that had led into The Phantom's recent adventure with the Skulls of Touganda.

"My apologies, Captain," Weeks answered, quickly trying to glance behind his commanding officer to see what he could see before focusing on the man in front of him, "But you asked to be informed of any communications from the _Tribune _newspaper offices in New York - a telegram just arrived, sir."

"Well, then," Horton snapped, "Hand it over and get on with it, Sergeant."

Weeks handed over the piece of paper and turned to walk off the porch and down the steps, trying not to shake his head at the strange behavior that the Captain had shown. Then he stopped and frowned, for a moment he thought he had seen, out of the corner of his eye, movement in the shadows like a man going over the wall surrounding the Jungle Patrol headquarters.

Finally, he just shook his head and continued on his way, thinking to himself, 'Blasted jungle plays tricks on a man's mind."


	3. Hacking Away

Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. Whether or not that goal can be reached, we'll see... This is The 365 Project, 24 February.

I like old 'pulp'-era heroes (or even those simply styled as though from that era), costumed heroes like The Shadow and The Phantom, classic detectives like Dick Tracy and Nero Wolfe, I gladly admit it. So it is without hesitation that I started wondering what would happen if - since they're all in a roughly 1930's era timeframe, what would happen if their paths began to cross...

Disclaimer(s):  
"The Shadow" belongs to Street and Smith Publications and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.  
"The Phantom" was created by Lee Falk and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit, I believe current ownership rights rest with King Features Syndicate, but I'm not sure.

-o0O0o-

"Heroes United"  
'Hacking Away'  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

"Never plot in the backseat of a cab; you never know who the cabbie really works for." - Magnus' Laws.

-o0o-

Midtown, Manhattan Island,  
New York City,  
United States of America.

Two cabs were parked in front of one of the city's hotels, their respective drivers standing between them talking in the cool morning air.

"You hungry?" One of them finally asked, adding, "I'm buying."

The second looked at him and raised an eyebrow, "You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," Al Falkner rolled his eyes, "What's the world coming to when a guy can't even foot the bill for a friend once in a while?"

"Okay, okay," the other cabbie, a man named Moe Shrevenitz, grinned, "Don't go gettin' your hackles all up. What happened, somebody tell you to keep the change?"

"Sorta," Al shrugged, "Big fair the other day, out-of-towner, paid big money for the whole day. I figure, what the hey, you only live once."

"Pay was that good, huh?"

"Like you have room to talk, Shrevvie," Al shot back, "Surprised you haven't just quit hacking and gone to work for that Cranston guy full-time with the way you drive for him."

"Eh, Cranston pays well," Moe countered, "But it's not as regular as you think. Besides, I like hacking, beats being around the house with Shirl yakking in my ear all the time."

Moe wouldn't say it because Al wasn't an Agent, but being a cabbie had the added benefits of allowing him to go almost anywhere in New York and people wouldn't notice just another cab on the street along with the fact that people talked in the back seat and sometimes what they were saying was worth hearing and passing on.

"Sure, Moe," Al clicked his tongue, "Whatever you say."

"Yeah, how about sandwiches, then?" Moe replied, "There's a new deli open in Brooklyn, supposed to have good sandwiches. Been wanting to try it out anyways."

"Sandwiches?" Al looked at him in disbelief, "I'm payin' and you could get steak or something and you want sandwiches?"

"Hey, just 'cause I drive a rich guy around don't mean I've got his tastes," Moe retorted, "I'm just a simple man with simple tastes and right now I'm wanting to taste some cold cuts and cheese. So, you payin' or just talkin', Al?"

"I'm payin', I'm payin'," Al answered as he walked around to the door of his cab, shaking his head, "Sandwiches..."


	4. Digging Deeper

Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. Whether or not that goal can be reached, we'll see... Two months down and ten to go, this is the final entry for February, this is The 365 Project, 28 February.

I like old 'pulp'-era heroes (or even those simply styled as though from that era), costumed heroes like The Shadow and The Phantom, classic detectives like Dick Tracy and Nero Wolfe, I gladly admit it. So it is without hesitation that I started wondering what would happen if - since they're all in a roughly 1930's era timeframe, what would happen if their paths began to cross...

Disclaimer(s):  
"The Shadow" belongs to Street and Smith Publications and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.  
"The Phantom" was created by Lee Falk and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit, I believe current ownership rights rest with King Features Syndicate, but I'm not sure.

* * *

-o0O0o-

"Heroes United"  
'Digging Deeper'  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

* * *

The Skull Cave,  
Bangalla

For four hundred years, The Phantom had made his home in the Skull Cave, though only a few knew where it was and even fewer knew that The Phantom was many men, each the son of The Phantom before and each would be father to The Phantom who would follow. The man who now bore the name and title was the Twenty-First Phantom to do so. In one of the deepest parts of the Skull Cave, a chamber whose walls were lined with books, some centuries old, that had been collected from all over the world and - more importantly - the oversized leather-bound journals that documented The Phantom's legacy, added to not only by the Twenty-First Phantom, but all those who had gone before. It was from these journals that the room took its name; the Chronicle Chamber. The Chronicle laying open on the desk before him was one of the newest, less than a decade old, the last addition made by the Twentieth Phantom before his death at the hands of the Sengh Brotherhood six years before. For twenty generations, The Phantom had used ancient Touganda tribal methods of meditation to allow himself to focus and recieve guidance from the spirits in the world around him, but at the moment, the man known also as Kit Walker was too frustrated to meditate on the information he was looking for.

"Something wrong, Ghost-Who-Walks?" Guran, the aged Bangallan native whose family had served The Phantom for centuries asked.

"It's these _girasol _rings that Captain Horton told me about, Guran," Kit answered, "I've been looking through the Chronicles for information and all I can find is something my father wrote a few years before..."

"Before you returned from America," Guran supplied, allowing Kit to avoid reference to his father's death.

"Yes, before I came back from America," Kit agreed, "According to what he wrote; they started appearing suddenly, never many, never obvious, but always there. But he was never able to find out anything about them. Every time he tried, they seemed to disappear... just like now."

"Like a shadow," Guran observed.

Kit looked up at his friend, assistant and mentor, "What was that?"

"I said the information you seek is elusive, like you were chasing a shadow," Guran answered.

Frowning, Kit quickly flipped to the back of the Chronicle journal, to one of the first entries he had made after his return from America upon his father's death six years ago, and began to run his finger down the page.

"Here it is," Kit announced, "Before I returned to Bangalla to become The Phantom, there were rumors in New York, a dark figure terrorising criminals, always unseen."

"And so?" Guran asked.

"The timing fits, Guran," Kit looked up and told him, "According to what my father wrote, these _girasol_ rings began to appear about the same time this person appeared in New York. There may be a connection there."

"Hm," Guran made a sound of acknowledgement, "I will pack your belongings for your trip, Ghost-Who-Walks, so that you may arrange tickets for the Clipper."

Kit managed a smile, "You know me too well, Guran."

* * *

-o0o-

Roughly the same time...  
New York City,  
United States of America

Burbank looked up from one of his multitude of maps at the sound of a buzzing coming from the two-way radio transciever that was part of his communications apparatus. Reaching out with a hand, the third finger of which bore a silver ring with a red stone, the former-accountant pressed a button which brought to life not only the transciever's microphone, but also the one-way 'picture over radio' transmitter that allowed the man at the other end of the communication to see Burbank and anything the communications man needed to show his boss.

"Burbank," he answered the signal with his typical economy of words, never two when one would do.

There were no greetings or pleasantries from the man on the other end of the signal, the one who Burbank couldn't see but that saw him, "Instruct Agents necessary to gather information on island of Bangalla, especially rumors and legends surrounding purple man seen recently in New York in relation to activites of Xander Drax."

"Yes, sir," Burbank answered, unphased by the sudden disconnection without comment when the person on the other end of the radio cut the signal. Instead, he put aside the map he was looking at and took out one of another part of the world, including the island of Bangalla, marked with pencil dots and alphanumeric notations of which only he knew the meanings, and began to set in motion the farthest-reaching arms of the network of Agents all of whom were answerable ultimately to the man known only as The Shadow.


	5. Read All About It

Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental _multi-fandom_ project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. For more details, see the relevent section in my profile. This is The 365 Project, 11 May.

I like old 'pulp'-era heroes (or even those simply styled as though from that era), costumed heroes like The Shadow and The Phantom, classic detectives like Dick Tracy and Nero Wolfe, I gladly admit it. So it is without hesitation that I started wondering what would happen if - since they're all in a roughly 1930's era timeframe, what would happen if their paths began to cross...

Disclaimer(s):  
"The Shadow" belongs to Street and Smith Publications and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.  
"The Phantom" was created by Lee Falk and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit, I believe current ownership rights rest with King Features Syndicate, but I'm not sure.  
"The Green Hornet" is the creation of George Trendle and Fran Striker, I'm unsure who currently owns the rights to the character. Possibly Sony/Columbia since they made the 2011 Live Action film...

* * *

-o0O0o-

"Heroes United"  
'Read All About It'  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

* * *

"Another challenge for The Green Hornet, his aide Kato, and their rolling arsenal, the Black Beauty. On police records, a wanted criminal, The Green Hornet is really Britt Reid, owner-publisher of the _Daily Sentinel_, his dual-identity known only to his secretary and the District Attorney. And now, to protect the rights and lives of decent citizens, rides The Green Hornet!"

* * *

-o0o-

Detroit, Michigan.

Knowledge is power, especially in a business built around information. The life of a newspaper depends on knowing things that other papers don't and passing that information on to its readers before another paper can find it out. In the newspaper industry, as in any other form of business, it helps to know what the competition is doing.

When owner-publisher Britt Reid walked into his offices of the _Daily Sentinel_, followed by his executive assistant Li Kato - or Kato Li, if one used the Chinese arrangement - who most simply called 'Kato', he smiled at the woman sitting in the front office.

"Good morning, Miss Case - have today's papers arrived yet?"

Lenore Casey, an attractive redhead in her late-twenties, looked up from her desk, "The _Classic_, the _Tribune_, and the _Standard _are all on your desk, Mr. Reid. The _Daily World-Telegram _and the _Chronicle_ haven't arrived yet."

Reid rolled his eyes, "Someone needs to complain to the _Daily World-Telegram_ about their delivery service. This is getting ridiculous, Casey."

Case smiled at Reid's sense of humor, such as it was, "I'm sure they'll be very interested in the delayed deliveries of your morning edition, Mr. Reid."

"Casey, are you ever going to call me Britt?" Reid asked with a straight face.

"Never on the clock, Mr. Reid," Case answered in the same serious tone.

"How about over dinner tonight, then?" Reid tried a different angle.

"Go read your papers, Mr. Reid," Case instructed good-naturedly. As Reid and Kato walked past her into Reid's inner office, she could hear the exchange between them and it made her smile.

"One of these days, Kato," Reid had commented.

"I'm sure it will be, Mr. Reid." Kato had answered.

* * *

-o0o-

In his office, Reid spread the four papers on his desk out and looked them over; the _Tribune_'s headline was about the involvement of Xander Drax in an attempted kidnapping and his subsequent death during a meeting with leaders of an ancient criminal organization.

Reid frowned at the name of the organization, "Kato, have you ever heard of a 'Sengh Brotherhood'?"

The Chinese man looked grimly at his employer, best friend and adoptive brother, "Bad news."

Handing the _Tribune_ to the other man, Reid moved on to the _Standard_, which held nothing of interest considering that it was merely a mouthpiece to a corrupt city administration in New York; the _Classic_, however... Reid had met their top reporter, Clyde Burke, on more than a few occasions and had even attempted to hire the man away to the _Sentinel_. The _Classic_ was a stronghold of honest and fearless reporting in New York City and it laid bare elements that the _Tribune_ hadn't focused on and that the _Standard _had ignored; Drax's involvement with both the Zephro crime family and Police Comissioner Jack Farley, the increase in crime rates since Farley had replaced former Commissioner Wainwright Barth, the fact that Raymond Zephro and Drax had recieved a police escort to the airport for their meeting with the Sengh Brotherhood, the involvement of an unnamed costumed figure who seemed to be working against Drax, a great deal of interesting information that might be of use to both Britt Reid and The Green Hornet in the coming days.

And on the subject of his alternate persona, Reid came to the last of the papers, that morning's edition of the _Daily Sentinel_ itself, the headline blaring out for all to see that 'Cavendish Gang In Custody' and in smaller type below it, the additional headline, 'Green Hornet Still At Large'!


	6. A Lady's Work Is Never Done

Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental _multi-fandom_ project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. For more details, see the relevent section in my profile. This is The 365 Project, 20 August.

In the immortal words of Samuel L. Clemens... "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR."

Disclaimer(s):  
"The Shadow" belongs to Street and Smith Publications and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.  
"The Phantom" was created by Lee Falk and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit, I believe current ownership rights rest with King Features Syndicate, but I'm not sure.  
"The Green Hornet" is the creation of George Trendle and Fran Striker, I'm unsure who currently owns the rights to the character. Possibly Sony/Columbia since they made the 2011 Live Action film...  
"Zorro" belongs to New World Entertainment and whomever else owns the rights to the concept and is used without permission or intent to profit. The 'Vicky Vega/Victoria de la Vega' version of the character, as previously appeared in my NW Zorro story "Five Greetings", is my own creation though.

* * *

-o0O0o-

"Heroes United"

'A Lady's Work Is Never Done'

By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

* * *

If she had a dollar for every comment she heard about only having her job because she was _The Guardian_'s owner's daughter, or that the newspaper industry was no place for a woman, or anything else of the ilk, Vicky Vega would have as much money on her own as her family had made over the last hundred years and more. Besides, no matter how low the comments got, she only had to ask herself what her ancestor would do to remind her to just ignore them. The best forms of revenge were quiet laughter when she scooped them for stories and knowing that every time they talked about the good that Zorro did for Los Angeles, they were eating crow feathers and all without knowing it.

A century before, Diego de la Vega had created the figure known as '_El Zorro_', The Fox, to fight a corrupt government in the Pueblo de Los Angeles, and by fate or chance, Vicky - properly Victoria de la Vega, though she typically used the shortened form instead - had been working for the paper that the de la Vegas had owned ever since Diego when she had discovered the hard way that there was a new corruption in the government of the city of Los Angeles. A story that her father - Phillip de la Vega, current owner of _The Guardian_ \- had asked her to look into had ended up with Vicky waking up in an alley with a headache and a warning that sticking her nose into other peoples' business might just get it cut off. Unfortunately for the people sending that message, Vicky didn't take threats well - side effect of being the only girl in her generation - and Phillip chose that night to reveal to his daughter their family's other, less public, legacy. For the first time in decades, a de la Vega donned the black mask and Zorro rode again; corruption to the left, criminals to the right, and Vicky Vega in the middle, armed only with her wits, the rapier and whip that had been part of Zorro's arsenal since the beginning, and the modified motorcycle known as the Tornado.

"Something wrong, Victoria?" Phillip de la Vega asked his daughter as he walked into the family library, he never did call her 'Vicky'.

Vicky looked up from the out-of-town newspaper she was reading with a huff, "You could say that, sure."

Phillip frowned, "There's no call for that attitude, daughter."

"I'm sorry," Vicky answered shaking her head, "It's the Zapphro situation."

"Ah," Phillip nodded knowingly - after the Zapphro family in New York had lost both of the Zapphro brothers themselves in rapid succession, they'd ended up severely weakened and other groups were moving in on Zapphro territory in New York and elsewhere, including the foothold the Zapphros had enjoyed in the L.A. docks; all in all, it meant more work for Zorro in recent nights.

Vicky looked at him, familiar with her father's methods to get people to give out more information without his actually asking for it, and started a minor staredown between father and daughter.

"What seems to be the problem?" Phillip finally asked after a few moments, conceding to his daughter this time.

"Do you believe what N.Y.P.D. Commissioner Farley says?" Vicky held up the copy of the _Standard _that she was reading, "That this 'Phantom' people saw is some kind of 'super-criminal' that had been involved with the Zapphros and decided to knock them off and take over the whole arrangement?"

"You mean like that Green Hornet character?" Phillip asked, "I don't think so. It's in one of Diego's journals how he fought a group of pirates alongside a 'jungle Phantom' not long before Mexico declared its independence from Spain..."

"And you think this might be the same Phantom?"

"I've learned never to discount any possibility, daughter," Phillip informed her.


	7. Cobalt Couples

Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental _multi-fandom_ project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. For more details, see the relevent section in my profile. This is The 365 Project, 26 August.

In the immortal words of Samuel L. Clemens... "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR."

Disclaimer(s):  
"The Shadow" belongs to Street and Smith Publications and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.  
"The Phantom" was created by Lee Falk and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit, I believe current ownership rights rest with King Features Syndicate, but I'm not sure.  
"The Green Hornet" is the creation of George Trendle and Fran Striker, I'm unsure who currently owns the rights to the character. Possibly Sony/Columbia since they made the 2011 Live Action film...  
"Zorro" belongs to New World Entertainment and whomever else owns the rights to the concept and is used without permission or intent to profit. The 'Vicky Vega/Victoria de la Vega' version of the character, as previously appeared in my NW Zorro story "Five Greetings", is my own creation though.

* * *

-o0O0o-

"Heroes United"  
'Cobalt Couples'  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

* * *

Diana Palmer had greeted Kit Walker with a smile and a warm embrace when he stepped off the Pan-Am Clipper, even if it had only been a matter of weeks since they had seen one another.

"Miss me?" Kit teased as they seperated.

"I could ask you the same question, Kit," Diana retorted.

"Horribly," he answered, "Guran complained that I was mooning around the place, completely inappropriate for... a man of my position."

"Well, there you go," Diana agreed, "But just missing me isn't why you came to New York, is it?"

"No, it's not," Kit conceded, "I'm... hoping to find somebody."

"Who?"

"I don't know yet," he admitted, "But I'll start to know more when I start seeing things."

"What 'things'?" Diana demanded.

"Rings, Diana," Kit told her, "I'm looking for people wearing a certain kind of ring..."

* * *

-o0o-

Lamont Cranston had been a member in good standing of the Cobalt Club for a dozen years, ever since his return from the Orient, as the former men's club had become the place to see and be seen for New York's wealthy and connected; socialites, millionaires, police commissioners, newspaper owners, officials in the city government, they all passed through the Cobalt Club at some point. It made the lounge the perfect place for The Shadow to keep his own ears and eyes open as good food, flowing wine and the attractive singers the Cobalt Club employed loosened many tongues. It was one of the reasons that Lamont Cranston had met his uncle there so many times during Wainwright Barth's time as Police Commissioner for the city of New York. It was the place where Lamont Cranston had first met Margo Lane and the place where they had enjoyed many evenings together afterwards over the last few years...

"If I told you to meet me at six-thirty," Margo remarked as Lamont sat down at the table across from her, "Do you think you could manage to make a seven o'clock reservation?"

"Have you ever tried to catch a cab in this city, Margo? It is _murder_," Lamont replied, emphasising the word murder as they both knew that Moe would and did drop any other fare he might have whenever Lamont called for him.

_'Some of the groups from the west side are trying to move in on the Zapphros' old territory,'_ Lamont added telepathically.

"That bad is it?" Margo asked, the question having an intentional double-meaning.

"It was a fight," Lamont answered, his eyes telling the woman across from him just what kind of fight he meant.

"Well, I'm glad you got here safe, that's all that counts," Margo told him as she reached across the table and took his hand.

* * *

-o0o-

"You probably haven't seen anywhere as fancy as the Club in a few years, I suppose," Diana remarked as she watched Kit look around the Cobalt Club and take in the architecture and fashions.

"You'd be surprised," Kit answered, "I do have a few distant cousins whom I actually visit at times."

Diana blushed slightly at the reminder of some of the people that Kit could trace his family tree back through, "Sorry, I didn't mean that how it sounded."

"I know you didn't, Diana," Kit smiled reassuringly, "Most people have to have grown up there or lived there a few years before they understand how comfortable it really is, as simple as it is."

"I'm sure I'll love it there," Diana teased, only to frown when she noticed Kit wasn't paying her any attention, "Kit? Kit... Kit!"

Kit shook his head and looked away from the couple that he had been watching stand up and leave their table, "Diana, do you know who those two were?"

Diana's frown turned thoughtful as she tried to place the faces she had only caught a glimpse of, "...Those two? ...Cran... Cranston! Lamont Cranston,Uncle Dave introduced me to Lamont a few years ago, his uncle was the Police Commissioner before Jack Foley. And the woman is Margo Lane, her father is some kind of scientist if I remember right... Why do you ask, Kit?"

Kit looked at Diana and answered with complete seriousness, "The rings I'm here to find, Diana? They were each wearing one; silver rings with _girasol _stones."

Diana's gaze moved to the backs of the departing couple with new curiousity in her eyes.


	8. A Time To Walk

Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental _multi-fandom_ project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. For more details, see the relevent section in my profile. This is The 365 Project, 31 August.

In the immortal words of Samuel L. Clemens... "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR."

Disclaimer(s): See end of chapter...

* * *

-o0O0o-

"Heroes United"  
'A Time To Walk...'  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

* * *

In his room at a New York City hotel, Kit Walker opened the secret compartment of his suitcase and frowned at the contents it held; The Phantom's purple and black costume, based off of ancient Touganda tribal legends and rituals, and the skull-buckled gunbelt with its twin 1911A1 Colt automatics. In the jungles of Bangalla, it provided him anonymity and the protection of legends and fear, allowing him to fulfill his family's oath to fight injustice, greed, cruelty and piracy in all its forms. In the urban jungle of New York, unfortunately, it would be a hinderance with the police still on alert for the 'armed and dangerous man in a purple costume' even with Drax's demise. According to Diana Palmer earlier that evening, Police Commissioner Farley appearently considered The Phantom a threat to the criminal elements that Farley secretly assisted, much like New York's infamous Shadow. Kit wasn't sure how he felt about that comparison; that Farley - who definitely fell under the injustice and greed part of the Walker family oath - considered him such a threat after one meeting was a good thing, but at the same time he had heard enough rumors about The Shadow both before and after returning to Bangalla that he wasn't entirely sure where the other man - and as someone who fought wrapped in the myth and mystique of 'The Ghost-Who-Walks', Kit was sure that The Shadow was also a man who did similar with the myths surrounding him - stood on the scales of order. Part of Kit suspected that, as long as he was in New York, he would find that out sooner or later, though.

Carefully, almost reverently, Kit removed the gunbelt and its holstered automatics from the compartment and laid them on the bed before reaching under The Phantom's costume and pulling out a small emergency mask - a simple eyemask with a band to hold it on the head instead of the one that was part of his costume's cowl - and laid it next to his gunbelt so that he could close the suitcase. A black turtleneck sweater, black pants, all under a hat and trenchcoat and finished off with a pair of gloves would serve as a substitute for The Phantom's normal outfit. It would also carry the added benefit of Kit simply being able to take off his mask and blend in with the crowds on the streets. It wasn't as though he could simply walk up to the man Diana had told him was named Lamont Cranston and introduce himself as a jungle legend, ask about the ring Cranston wore - explaining that Kit had seen people in the jungle wearing it and acting strangely - and expect an honest answer, even if it wasn't against the very code of secrecy that The Phantom lived by. Instead, this would require the kind of subterfuge and underhandedness that was usually the mark of The Phantom's enemies. He would have to follow Cranston and see if the man led him to the source of the _girasol_ rings, a source that Kit strongly suspected he would find to be The Shadow of New York City. A Shadow whose tendrils were reaching into the Bangallan jungle, and Kit wanted to know why...

He began to dress.

* * *

-o0O0o-

Credits... er, Disclaimers:  
"The Shadow" belongs to Street and Smith Publications and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.  
"The Phantom" was created by Lee Falk and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit, I believe current ownership rights rest with King Features Syndicate, but I'm not sure.  
"The Green Hornet" is the creation of George Trendle and Fran Striker, I'm unsure who currently owns the rights to the character. Possibly Sony/Columbia since they made the 2011 Live Action film...  
"Zorro" belongs to New World Entertainment and whomever else owns the rights to the concept and is used without permission or intent to profit. The 'Vicky Vega/Victoria de la Vega' version of the character, as previously appeared in my NW Zorro story "Five Greetings", is my own creation though.


	9. A Club For Cops

Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental _multi-fandom_ project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. For more details, see the relevent section in my profile. This is The 365 Project, 13 September.

In the immortal words of Samuel L. Clemens... "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR."

Disclaimer(s): See end of chapter...

* * *

-o0O0o-

"Heroes United"  
'A Club For Cops...'  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

* * *

Across Manhattan from the Cobalt Club, there was another gathering place. It wasn't modern and stylish, brightly lit with a good jazz band playing on stage, and there were no white-jacketed waiters taking the orders of young wealthy couples on a night out. There were, however, pool tables in the center of the main room, surrounded by smaller tables for eating and drinking purposes, and a thick fog of smoke - mixed cigar, cigarette and even pipe tobacco - hung in the air from the ceiling down to chest height. The occupants, as well, weren't the wealthy elite of New York City, but instead were all brothers in a certain fraternity. Every man in the bar worked for, in some position and rank, the New York Police Department either currently or, in the case of the bartender and other staff, before retiring from age or medical problems.

In a corner away from the bar and the pool tables, two men sat across from each other at a table half-hidden in the shadows, an irony which they both found amusing. They were, respectively, a plainclothes Sergeant in the Homicide division and a similarly plainclothes'd Inspector with the Twenty-Sixth Precinct. If either of them were to be said to have a defining characteristic, it was that each of them wore, on the third finger of the right hand, a silver ring with a fire opal stone. They had one other thing in common; Purley Stebbins and Joseph Cardona were both a rarity in New York at the moment, they were good, honest, hard-working cops who believed in the law and futhermore believed that the purpose of the law and of the police was to protect and serve the people... A belief that had brought them each close to death at the hands of the forces of crime and disorder and had seen them each saved by the same man, a man to whom both now owed their lives and their loyalty.

"This new Commissioner's starting to make things hot, Joe," Stebbins remarked, "I heard Cramer talking the other day, Farley's wanting to start a task force on vigilantes; private detectives who make the department look bad, guys tripping purse-snatchers on the street, you know what I mean?"

Cardona nodded, he knew exactly what Stebbins meant, "Anyone who doesn't want to get on board with Farley's 'partners'... including guys like us."

"Including us," Stebbins agreed, "Considering who Cramer was talking to, I think he was trying to pass on the warning. There are some people who would love to see Wolfe brought to heel and not all of them are on the same side of the law."

"Wolfe's good," Cardona nodded, "Good thing that a case almost has to happen on his doorstep for him to take it, otherwise he'd be a problem for... well, you know."

"Yeah, well, that happens too often sometimes - a case on Wolfe's doorstep, I mean," Stebbins remarked, "I don't know, I guess the last few years have taught me not to care as much who gets the credit as long as the case gets solved."

"Drink to that," Cardona lifted his glass and took a swallow before setting it back on the table, "So what do you think about this purple guy that's got Farley so scared? You think he's really some kind of costumed criminal like Farley says or what?"

"Don't know," Stebbins shrugged, "Detroit's got that 'Hornet' chracter, so the idea's out there... but the purple guy caused trouble for the Zephros and has Farley scared, to me, that says that he's on the right side. I just hope he doesn't end up meeting someone we know who doesn't take kindly to outsiders interfering in their 'work'..."

* * *

-o0O0o-

Author's Note: For the curious, the chapter title comes from a line in the Sir Sean Connery/Kevin Costner movie "The Untouchables", where Connery's character is an honest cop in a corrupt Chicago that accepts a secondment to the Treasury Department. There's a scene where Connery's character goes to a cops-only bar frequented by the corrupt officers in the force to get information from a former friend and they refuse to recognize him as a cop anymore, the former friend demanding to know what Connery's character is doing there since it's 'a club for cops.' If you haven't seen the movie, I recommend it.

Disclaimers:  
"The Shadow" belongs to Street and Smith Publications and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.  
"The Phantom" was created by Lee Falk and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit, I believe current ownership rights rest with King Features Syndicate, but I'm not sure.  
"The Green Hornet" is the creation of George Trendle and Fran Striker, I'm unsure who currently owns the rights to the character. Possibly Sony/Columbia since they made the 2011 Live Action film...  
"Zorro" belongs to New World Entertainment and whomever else owns the rights to the concept and is used without permission or intent to profit. The 'Vicky Vega/Victoria de la Vega' version of the character, as previously appeared in my NW Zorro story "Five Greetings", is my own creation though.  
"Nero Wolfe" and all associated characters and situations are the creation of Rex Stout and are used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.


	10. Overture

Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental _multi-fandom_ project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. For more details, see the relevent section in my profile. This is The 365 Project, 29 October.

In the immortal words of Samuel L. Clemens... "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR."

Disclaimer(s): See end of chapter...

* * *

-o0O0o-

"Heroes United"  
'Overture'  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

* * *

Britt Reid sat in the library of his home, leant back in his chair with his eyes closed as he listened to a piece of music playing on his record player.

"William Tell Overture, again, Mister Reed?" His old friend and valet remarked as he walked into the room, causing Britt to sit up and open his eyes.

"It helps me think, Kato," Britt answered, "The country... no, not just the country, perhaps the entire world seems to be entering a new age of mystery men, costumed types each fighting for law and justice in their own way..."

"You wonder what your ancestor might do in this situation," Kato stated matter-of-factly.

Britt's lips twitched in a faint smile, "You know me too well, Kato. Part of my concern is how some other crusader might target the Green Hornet not knowing the truth of our operation, we would be trapped between maintaining the secrecy that we survive on and preventing the appearance of impropriety on the part of other crimefighters."

"Sounds like a shared problem, Mister Reid," Kato pointed out, "Between them and us."

"Yes, I suppose it would be," Britt agreed, "And I can't help having the feeling that the defining, perhaps final, time for us to face that problem is rapidly approaching..."

* * *

-o0O0o-

Author's Note: Anyone who remembers who Britt's ancestor is should get my little joke in this chapter.

Disclaimers:  
"The Shadow" belongs to Street and Smith Publications and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.  
"The Phantom" was created by Lee Falk and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit, I believe current ownership rights rest with King Features Syndicate, but I'm not sure.  
"The Green Hornet" is the creation of George Trendle and Fran Striker, I'm unsure who currently owns the rights to the character. Possibly Sony/Columbia since they made the 2011 Live Action film...  
"Zorro" belongs to New World Entertainment and whomever else owns the rights to the concept and is used without permission or intent to profit. The 'Vicky Vega/Victoria de la Vega' version of the character, as previously appeared in my NW Zorro story "Five Greetings", is my own creation though.  
"Nero Wolfe" and all associated characters and situations are the creation of Rex Stout and are used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.


	11. Shadow In Front

Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental _multi-fandom_ project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. For more details, see the relevent section in my profile. This is The 365 Project, 12 November. It's been an annoying day for me since something I've been working on is down at the moment...

In the immortal words of Samuel L. Clemens... "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR."

Disclaimer(s): See end of chapter...

* * *

-o0O0o-

"Heroes United"  
'Shadow In Front'  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

* * *

The man known whose face was known to the public as that of Lamont Cranston, heir of the Cranston fortune and nephew of a former-Police Commissioner, one of the wealthest men in New York if not in the world, growled softly to himself; he was being followed. This wasn't the following of some criminal or cop trying to catch The Shadow and make a name for himself, it wasn't someone following him to send a message as Shiwan Khan had in different ways during their confrontation, this was different. He could sense it. This was someone following him as he had followed so many lowlifes and hoods, looking for the guppies to lead him to the sharks. From the faint echos of thoughts he could feel from his tail, they were following him expecting him to lead them to something or to someone, and the man who was in actuality The Shadow suspected he knew who that someone was. It wouldn't be the first time that someone - Khan included - made a connection between one of his various public identities and himself. The important question was what they intended to do with that connection made. Even in the lights of the New York City street he walked along, darkness seemed to overtake Lamont's face as he prepared to turn hunter to hunted.

* * *

-o0O0o-

Disclaimers:

"The Shadow" belongs to Street and Smith Publications and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.

"The Phantom" was created by Lee Falk and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit, I believe current ownership rights rest with King Features Syndicate, but I'm not sure.

"The Green Hornet" is the creation of George Trendle and Fran Striker, I'm unsure who currently owns the rights to the character. Possibly Sony/Columbia since they made the 2011 Live Action film...

"Zorro" belongs to New World Entertainment and whomever else owns the rights to the concept and is used without permission or intent to profit. The 'Vicky Vega/Victoria de la Vega' version of the character, as previously appeared in my NW Zorro story "Five Greetings", is my own creation though.


	12. Phantom Behind

Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental _multi-fandom_ project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. For more details, see the relevent section in my profile. This is The 365 Project, 13 November. It's been an annoying day for me since something I've been working on is down at the moment...

In the immortal words of Samuel L. Clemens... "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR."

Disclaimer(s): See end of chapter...

* * *

-o0O0o-

"Heroes United"

'Phantom Behind'

By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

* * *

Kit Walker breathed in the city night air, so different from that of his Bangallan jungle home, while perched on a fire-escape, watching as his quarry walked past underneath him. Maybe it was living in the jungle for so much of his life, especially around the Rope People, but it still surprised him how few city-dwellers actually looked up. It was amazing how many of them never looked up when one considered how tall the buildings in New York were, really, and moving between them by power and telephone cables and jumping was really no different than moving from tree to tree by vine and jumping as he had been doing for years.

His father, when Kit was still a child, had once told him that some natives of the Bangalla jungles claimed The Phantom to have the strength of ten tigers, the speed of the wildest horses, the agility of the most playful monkeys and the wisdom that can only be possessed by 'The Man Who Cannot Die'. The twentieth Phantom had told his son this for much the same reason that slaves would ride in the chariots with conquering Roman generals in their triumphant parades, whispering in their ear to remember that they were but mortals - to remind Kit not to lose himself in the legends and stories surrounding The Phantom, that beneath the purple and black costume of The Phantom remained a mortal man and so had it been for four hundred years since the days of the First Phantom.

Whoever Lamont Cranston, whoever he really was, whoever he worked for had taught him well. Cranston knew how to move, how to avoid being tracked without it seeming he was doing so and without letting it be obvious that he knew he was being followed. Had he not seen animals acting the same way when they knew they were being hunted, even The Phantom might not have realised that Cranston was aware of him. Now the question was would Cranston head for safe ground and possibly aid from where he had received his _girasol_ ring or would he turn and stand...

* * *

-o0O0o-

Disclaimers:

"The Shadow" belongs to Street and Smith Publications and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.

"The Phantom" was created by Lee Falk and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit, I believe current ownership rights rest with King Features Syndicate, but I'm not sure.

"The Green Hornet" is the creation of George Trendle and Fran Striker, I'm unsure who currently owns the rights to the character. Possibly Sony/Columbia since they made the 2011 Live Action film...

"Zorro" belongs to New World Entertainment and whomever else owns the rights to the concept and is used without permission or intent to profit. The 'Vicky Vega/Victoria de la Vega' version of the character, as previously appeared in my NW Zorro story "Five Greetings", is my own creation though.


	13. Magic And Mystery

Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental _multi-fandom_ project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. For more details, see the relevent section in my profile. This is The 365 Project, 15 November.

In the immortal words of Samuel L. Clemens... "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR."

Disclaimer(s): See end of chapter...

* * *

-o0O0o-

"Heroes United"  
'Magic And Mystery'  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

* * *

"Something wrong, old friend?" Mandrake asked of his oldest and most trusted friend and ally.

"I do not know," Lothar answered with a shake of his head, "You know better than most, Mandrake, that legends and myths are born of truth many times. Across Africa from the Seven Nations, in the waters between it and India is the island nation of Bangalla. For many years, Bangalla has been home to the legend of the Defender of the Eastern Dark whom is also called The Man Who Cannot Die..."

Lothar laid his newspaper out before Mandrake so that the magician could see the headline of 'Costumed Crazy Terrorizes Manhattan', "It seems there may be some flesh to the legend after all."

Mandrake took the newspaper and read it with a slight frown, "Hm, well, I agree that the description seems to match the tales my father would tell me of his encounter with The Phantom in his own youth, but New York is certainly a long way from Bangalla, old friend."

"I was not aware you knew of The Ghost Who Walks," Lothar remarked.

"Yes, well, rumors of a tribal demon god coming entering this plane of existance are certainly the sort of thing in which the Collegium Magikos takes an interest. It was a long time ago when Theron, my father, traveled to Bangalla to investigate the rumors and determine if they were merely jungle exaggerations or if someone had actually summoned a demon."

"Tell me, Mandrake," Lothar frowned, "What did Theron find in Bangalla?"

Mandrake shook his head, "Some stories are no one's place to tell, Old Friend, not even mine. All I shall say is that The Phantom walks in the world of men and if he walks in New York, then we must keep our eyes and ears open and our minds sharp - there is an old jungle saying my father learned in Bangalla and passed on to me; 'When The Phantom walks, he walks with a purpose'."

* * *

-o0O0o-

Disclaimers:  
"The Shadow" belongs to Street and Smith Publications and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.  
"The Phantom", "Mandrake The Magician" and "Lothar" were created by Lee Falk and are used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit, I believe current ownership rights rest with King Features Syndicate, but I'm not sure.  
"The Green Hornet" is the creation of George Trendle and Fran Striker, I'm unsure who currently owns the rights to the character. Possibly Sony/Columbia since they made the 2011 Live Action film...  
"Zorro" belongs to New World Entertainment and whomever else owns the rights to the concept and is used without permission or intent to profit. The 'Vicky Vega/Victoria de la Vega' version of the character, as previously appeared in my NW Zorro story "Five Greetings", is my own creation though.


	14. Kid And Bug

Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental _multi-fandom_ project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. For more details, see the relevent section in my profile. This is The 365 Project, 4 December.

In the immortal words of Samuel L. Clemens... "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR."

Disclaimer(s): See end of chapter...

* * *

-o0O0o-

"Heroes United"  
'Kid And Bug'  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

* * *

Legally, his name was now Dick Tracy, Jr., most folks just called him 'Kid', though - only his adoptive father-figure called him anything different and even then the senior Dick Tracy just called him 'Junior'. Officially, he was a middle-schooler who happened to be the adopted son of the best detective in the city - officially. Unofficially, the Kid also happened to be the police department's best sketch artist and a pretty good pickpocket when he wanted to be - a skill from his old life that he'd never bothered to let get completely out of practice. It was one of the first lessons he'd learned from the detective; sometimes, a good man has to have a bit of the dirt in him to get things done, he just has to make sure he uses it and it doesn't use him. Because of this, it was usually his habit to stop off by police headquarters as soon as he got out of school, both to see if anything worth knowing about had gone down while he was in and because it was that or be home alone until the senior Tracy's fiancee got off work at the greenhouse.

Casually, the Kid opened the door to one of the distinguishing features of the city's police department; the laboratory where department scientists worked on creating new tools to help the officers and detectives of the force fight crime - the two-way radios in the patrol cars of the department and even the wrist-radio that the Kid's own adopted father used were just two of the creations that had come from the funding of millionaire industrialist and police supporter Diet Smith combined with the support of Chief of Detectives Tracy and Police Chief Brandon and the minds of Diet's son Brilliant Smith and police electronics technician 'Bug' Bailey.

"Hey, Bailey," the Kid called out, knowing that the man wasn't exactly fond of the sobriquet 'Bug', "Anything happening?"

The bespectacled man, no taller than the Kid himself despite being twice the junior Tracy's age, shook his head, "Sorry, Kid, you know how it is right now; with Big Boy dead and most of the other big names in jail, there's just nothing going on besides the usual, nothing 'Major' for the 'Major Crimes Unit' to investigate."

"Yeah, I know," the Kid said with disappointment in his voice, "I don't want anything bad to happen to anyone, not really, but I just wish something would happen already - it's getting to be downright boring... So, what you working on, Bailey?"

"I'm doing a favor for a friend on the New York police force, actually," Bailey answered, "They've been picking up some kind of strange radio signals over the last few years. The thing is, no one's supposed to be using that frequency that anyone knows of and every time they try to listen it, the signal doesn't seem complete."

"What do you mean, doesn't seem complete?"

"Like..." Bailey thought for a moment, "Like a picture with all the details, but no outline, Kid - scrambled and confusing with no way to tell what goes where."

"Like you said," the Kid nodded, "Strange. Any idea where Pops is? I looked in his office and he ain't in there?"

"I think he had to go over to the courthouse, Kid," Bailey replied, "He's still trying to work things out with the new D.A. that replaced Fletcher."

"Fine, I'll see him when he gets back," the Kid walked over and perched himself on one of the stools next to a workbench, "So, let's hear this 'strange radio signal' of yours, huh, Bailey?"

* * *

-o0O0o-

Author's Note; To reduce confusion, the 'strange radio signal' the NYPD is picking up and Bug Bailey's studying is the 'picture-by-radio', i.e. television, signal that The Shadow recieves from Burbank.

-o0o-

Disclaimers:

"The Shadow" belongs to Street and Smith Publications and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.

"The Phantom", "Mandrake The Magician" and "Lothar" were created by Lee Falk and are used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit, I believe current ownership rights rest with King Features Syndicate, but I'm not sure.

"The Green Hornet" is the creation of George Trendle and Fran Striker, I'm unsure who currently owns the rights to the character. Possibly Sony/Columbia since they made the 2011 Live Action film...

"Zorro" belongs to New World Entertainment and whomever else owns the rights to the concept and is used without permission or intent to profit. The 'Vicky Vega/Victoria de la Vega' version of the character, as previously appeared in my NW Zorro story "Five Greetings", is my own creation though.

"Dick Tracy" and associated characters and situations were created by Chester Gould.


	15. Confrontation

Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental _multi-fandom_ project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. For more details, see the relevent section in my profile. This is The 365 Project, 10 December.

In the immortal words of Samuel L. Clemens... "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR."

Disclaimer(s): See end of chapter...

* * *

-o0O0o-

"Heroes United"  
'Confrontation'  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

* * *

Perched on the corner of a New York City rooftop, The Phantom frowned. He had lost sight of Lamont Cranston when the man he was following turned down a dark alley and now he seemed to have disappeared. The problem was that there were no doors for him to have entered that the Ghost-Who-Walks could see; for all intents and purposes, Cranston had vanished...

"...Like a shadow," The Phantom muttered to himself.

-o0o-

The Shadow crouched in the darkness of the alley without moving - he could cloak minds to his presence, but he couldn't change the laws of nature; footsteps would make noise, objects would cast shadows, those were things that could still be noticed even by a clouded mind. He didn't have to move, however; all he had to do was wait for the person who was following him to get suspicious of his 'disappearing act' and come down to investigate.

-o0o-

The Phantom had learned from The Phantom before him, his father, and those around him; he had learnt how to hunt, how to track, how to wait, how to sense when he was the one being hunted... when he was being led into a trap by the object of his hunt, just like now. For whatever reason, Lamont Cranston had wanted The Phantom to come to this alleyway and now he was left with two choices; leave and perhaps lose his only lead to the _girasol_ rings he was investigating, or give Cranston and his 'employer' what they wanted by entering the trap. It hadn't been that long ago that The Phantom had been considering the lesson his father had given him to remember that despite being known as 'The Ghost-Who-Walks' and 'The Man-Who-Cannot-Die', The Phantom was and always had been just a man, the ancestors of the one who now bore the title, and that he shouldn't lose himself in the titles people gave The Phantom and forget that he was mortal and could be killed. Traps had led to several deaths among previous Phantoms and the current one knew not to take them lightly. Unfortunately, it seemed as though if he wanted to know who was being the organisation that was starting to make its presence known in his jungle home, he would have to spring the trap and hopefully not get caught by it. Taking a breath to steady his mind, The Phantom stepped off the roof and dropped to the ground thirty feet below, landing on the balls of his feet for but a second before rolling to lessen the impact.

"Alright," The Phantom said openly as he stood up, "You wanted me to come out in the open, here I am. Now it's your turn to show yourself."

-o0o-

Despite the thin scarf he had wrapped around the lower half of his face, a spare that he carried in case he needed to act and he had no time to retrieve a proper outfit from anywhere one was stored, The Shadow's lips bent in the faintest hint of a smile; there was little fear to be sensed coming from this jungle Phantom. Standing up, The Shadow took a step forward as he dropped his clouding suggestion, with the effect that it seemed as though he stepped out of thin air.

"If you insist," The Shadow replied to the jungle myth's 'request'.

The Phantom raised his eyebrows at the sudden appearance from nowhere of the urban legend, "Do you mind if I ask where Cranston went?"

"I do mind," The Shadow answered sharply, "I don't like it when people follow my Agents."

"Does that include Samuel Baker of the Bengalla Jungle Patrol and a criminal named Malcolm Arne?"

The Shadow showed no sign of recognisition at the names, "Do you expect me to answer that?"

"Not really," The Phantom replied, "You don't like people following your 'Agents', I don't like it when people are up to something on Bengalla without my knowing what it is."

"Is that a threat?" The Shadow responded harshly, "You came half-way around the world to threaten me?"

"It's a statement. I came half-way around the world for some answers," The Phantom countered, "What are you doing in Bengalla?"

"You ask a lot of questions for a myth."

"I told you, I'm looking for answers."

"Answers can be dangerous things to find," The Shadow retorted.

"I don't mind a little danger," The Phantom shot back.

"You want answers, you can answer something for me first," The Shadow looked at the other man's masked eyes, "What do you know about Xander Drax, the Zaphro family and their connections to the Sengh Brotherhood?"

* * *

-o0O0o-

Disclaimers:

"The Shadow" belongs to Street and Smith Publications and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.

"The Phantom", "Mandrake The Magician" and "Lothar" were created by Lee Falk and are used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit, I believe current ownership rights rest with King Features Syndicate, but I'm not sure.

"The Green Hornet" is the creation of George Trendle and Fran Striker, I'm unsure who currently owns the rights to the character. Possibly Sony/Columbia since they made the 2011 Live Action film...

"Zorro" belongs to New World Entertainment and whomever else owns the rights to the concept and is used without permission or intent to profit. The 'Vicky Vega/Victoria de la Vega' version of the character, as previously appeared in my NW Zorro story "Five Greetings", is my own creation though.

"Dick Tracy" and associated characters and situations were created by Chester Gould.


End file.
